"This is why CDs and vinyls stay winning" - Fans erupt as System of a Down's iconic ‘Toxicity’ album gets removed from Spotify 

Armenian-American heavy metal band System of a Down’s 2001 album, Toxicity, was seemingly removed from Spotify on April 30, 2025. According to Loudwire, three of the album’s songs, including Aerials, Chop Suey!, the title track Toxicity, were still on the music streaming platform.

However, the rest of the album has gone missing, while its cover art has also been removed. Notably, Aerials and Chop Suey! are displayed under the band’s compilation album, Rock Classico, while Toxicity appeared under the EP, Nice 2000s.

So far, it remains unclear why the album was scrubbed off Spotify. Neither the streaming company nor System of a Down (SOAD) has addressed the issue.

In the wake of this, fans of the band are reacting on social media platforms, such as X. For instance, user @hesitantway_ commented on the State of the Scene Podcast’s post sharing the update.

“This is why CDs and vinyls stay winning (I don't have a Toxicity CD),” the netizen wrote.

An X user comments on the disappearance of the SOAD album 'Toxicity' from Spotify. (Image via X)

Many people joined the conversation and shared similar reactions on the platform.

“Serj Tankian being on the FBI watchlist rn and getting ‘Toxicity’ taken off of Spotify, oh, 2005, Soad we are so back,” another person wrote.

“Another reason to buy CDs/ physical albums,” one person wrote.

“Whoever took it away better put it back,” wrote another.

Others continued to weigh in.

“This album spits a lot of facts. Og’s have the hard copy and a sony walkman,” one netizen said.

“It's still on my phone cuz I never switched to streaming,” another netizen wrote.

“Tbh on brand,” an individual wrote.

According to Loudwire, live editions of the songs and covers by other artists continue to be available on Spotify. The entire album is also on YouTube Music, SoundCloud, and Apple Music, among other streaming services.

Meanwhile, a Redditor, who DMed a System of a Down fan account on Instagram, reportedly received a reply that the band and its current record label, Sony, were seemingly aware of the issue and working to solve it, soon.

The latest development comes four months after SOAD thanked their fans for 1 billion streams of Toxicity on YouTube and Spotify, in January 2025, via a post on X.

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In brief, about System of a Down’s Toxicity album

Toxicity is the second studio album by the nu-metal band System of a Down, which was released in September 2001. It was a joint venture of Columbia Records and American Recordings and continues to be a defining album in the genre from that era.

Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, and Rick Rubian produced the album. Originally, the Grammy-winning band recorded 30 songs at the Cello Studios in Hollywood. However, later, they shortened it to 15 tracks that were a blend of Greek and Armenian music, folk, jazz, progressive rock, and heavy metal.

They include the title track, Aerials, Chop Suey!, Prison Song, Needles, Deer Dance, Jet Pilot, Bounce, Forest, Science, Shimmy, Psycho, ATWA (Air Trees Water Animals), X, and Arto (featuring Arto Tuncboyaciyan). The album explored themes including mass incarceration, the CIA, police brutality, drug addiction, environmental issues, and more.

At the time of Toxicity's release, System of a Down was scheduled to host a free concert in Hollywood, a day before it dropped. However, they canceled at the last minute due to overcrowding, which in turn led to a six-hour riot and the cancellation of other shows.

The album was released in several other editions, including the French and Japanese special editions, as well as the Blue edition. It charted at the top of the Canadian and US Billboard 200 upon its release and has continued to remain a hit over the years.

System of a Down is currently touring in South America. It was formed in 1994 in Glendale, California. The members include founding and lead vocalist, keyboardist Serj Tankian, guitarist and singer Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian, and drummer John Dolmayan, who replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian in 1997.